This invention relates to a sputtering target and method of making a soft magnetic film of a recording head or recording media, such as those in thin film magnetic recording.
Composite soft magnetic thin films are widely used in commercial applications, for instance, in magnetic recording heads. Also, a perpendicular magnetic recording medium usually has a soft magnetic underlayer of about 2000 xc3x85 thickness, which is conventionally made with magnetron sputtering. Magnetron sputtering has several advantages over diode sputtering, such as high deposition rate. It is very difficult, however, to use magnetron sputtering for soft magnetic materials because the targets of soft magnetic materials shunt the magnetic flux from the magnets of magnetron cathodes. Therefore, in order to properly operate the magnetron, a magnetic field of more than 150 Oe is required to be applied above and parallel to the target surface. However, when the magnetic field is about 150 Oe, the deposition rate of soft magnetic materials is still very slow. The conventional method for enabling the magnetron function for soft magnetic materials is to reduce the target thickness to minimize the shunting effect of the target. Even though the magnetron can marginally work by this method, the deposition rate is still too low.
In a perpendicular recording medium, the thickness of the soft magnetic layer is about 2000 xc3x85. This thickness is much larger than the thickness of other layers in the perpendicular recording medium. For example, the thickness of the interlayer, recording layer and overcoat are about 50 xc3x85, about 200 xc3x85, and about 40 xc3x85 respectively. The low deposition rate of the soft magnetic underlayer significantly reduces throughput. Also, thin targets significantly increase shutdown time of sputter machines for changing targets, and are not feasible for mass production.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,033,536 (Ichihara) discloses a magnetron sputtering method using a composite sputtering target consisting of a material having a maximum relative magnetic permeability of 50 or more or consisting of a soft magnetic material which contains two or more phases selected from the group consisting of an Mxe2x80x94X alloy phase, an M phase, and an X phase in that at least the simple substance phase consisting of the phase with the smaller atomic weight, M or X, is included, with the proviso that M is not equal to X, M is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Fe, Co and Ni, and X is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Fe, Al, Si, Ta, Zr, Nb, Hf and Ti. In particular, in column 11, lines 19 and 20, Ichihara discloses forming a NiFe film by using a target consisting of a NiFe alloy phase and a Fe phase.
While Ichihara discloses a composite sputtering target (see FIG. 8 of Ichihara) and a magnetron sputtering method, Ichihara is totally different from this invention. Ichihara concerns mainly with the composition consistence of the deposited films. The criterion for the composition of the composite sputtering target of Ichihara is based on atomic weight of the constituent materials (phases) of the target, not the saturation magnetization (Ms) of the constituent materials with respect to the saturation magnetization of the materials with identical composition as that of the resulting composite soft magnetic films. In particular, Ichihara requires that at least one phase of the target must be a simple substance phase having a smallest atomic weight relative to the atomic weights of M and X. Therefore, for forming a NiFe film, Ichihara uses a NiFe alloy phase (M=Ni and X=Fe) and a Fe phase (X=Fe), wherein the simple substance phase, i.e., Fe, has the smallest atomic weight relative to Ni and Fe. However, according to Ichihara, the simple substance phase having the smallest atomic weight, e.g., Fe, has a higher saturation magnetization than that of the sputter deposited film, e.g., NiFe. It is, therefore, more difficult to sputter-deposit Fe by magnetron than FeNi, when saturation magnetization is the main concern.
There are several problems in Ichihara""s method, which need to be solved. For example, the erosion of the target of FIG. 8 of Ichihara will not be uniform during sputtering because the magnetic field along the circumferential direction above this target surface will not be uniform, but will change dramatically. The field will be very strong above the Zr phase, and weak above the Fe and FeZr phases, resulting in non-uniform erosion of this target in the circumferential direction.
The soft magnetic target materials do not operate at the maximum permeability regime for a magnetron sputtering application. The magnetic field above the target surface in the plasma and parallel to the target surface must be greater than about 150 Oe to enable magnetron sputtering. The magnetic fields inside and outside the target surface at an area near the target surfaces and parallel to the surfaces of a target are nearly identical. Therefore, the magnetic field inside the target would be about 150 Oe or more. The highest magnetic induction of the widely used soft magnetic materials is known to be about 24000 Gauss. When B=24000 Gauss and H=150 Oe, xcexc=160 because B=xcexcH, where B is magnetic induction, xcexc is permeability, and H is magnetic field. This value of permeability is 2 to 3 orders of magnitude lower than the maximum permeability of most of commercial metallic soft magnetic materials. Therefore, maximum permeability of the target materials is not a concern of this invention. Instead, this invention is concerned with the problem of high saturation magnetization of the target materials, which is the cause of low pass through flux above the target surface.
Despite some advances in magnetron sputtering of soft magnetic films, there still is a need to find a method that can be used for efficient production of soft magnetic films with single-phase and substantially uniform composition by magnetron sputtering.
An embodiment of this invention is a magnetron target for sputtering, comprising at least a first sector comprising a first target material T1, having a saturation magnetization Ms1, and a second sector comprising a second target material t2 having a saturation magnetization Ms2, wherein Ms1 less than Ms3 and Ms2 less than Ms3, wherein Ms3 is the saturation magnetization of a bulk material T3 with the composition of a film formed by co-sputtering T1, and T2.
In one embodiment, the first and second sectors are pie-shaped sectors and locate along the racetrack of the magnetron, wherein preferably 0.9 less than Ms2/Ms1 less than 1.1 The target sputters T1, and T2 to form a single-phase film having a substantially uniform thickness and a substantially uniform composition of T3 throughout the single-chase film.
In another embodiment the first and second sectors are concentric ring-shaped sectors with sectors T1, and T2 located along radial direction, wherein preferably each sector has its own power supply.
In one embodiment, T1, comprises FeNix, and T2 comprises FeNiy, wherein x is in a range from about 29 to about 35 in weight percent and y is in the range from about 70 to 100 in weight percent. In yet another embodiment, T1, comprises a moiety selected from Fe, FeNi and FeB and T2 comprises a moiety selected from Ni, FeNi and Co. In a preferred embodiment, T1, is FeNi32 and T2 is Ni. Furthermore, T1, and/or T2 can further comprise an additive selected from Mo, Cr, Mn, Cu, V, C, B, Nb, Zr, Ta and Hf.
Another embodiment is a sputtering method, comprising disposing a substrate opposite a target, applying a magnetic field to the target, applying a sputtering voltage to the target and sputtering a film on the substrate, the target comprising at least a first sector comprising a first target material T1, having a saturation magnetization Ms1, and a second sector comprising a second target material T2 having a saturation magnetization Ms2, wherein Ms1 less than Ms3 and Ms2 less than Ms3, wherein Ms3 is the saturation magnetization of a bulk material T3 with the composition of the film.
Yet another embodiment is a sputtering source, comprising a magnet and means for sputtering a plurality of species that form a film comprising a material of higher saturation magnetization than that of the species. In this invention, xe2x80x9cmeans for sputtering a plurality of species that form a filmxe2x80x9d includes a sputtering target.
As will be realized, this invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and its details are capable of modifications in various obvious respects, all without departing from this invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.